Hair Hair Hair - Another question
Comments
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Hi girls, well its Nov now so Im sure everyones hair must be coming in.. I finished in April with chemo, surgery May and radiation just finished beginning of Oct, now on arimidex... after 6 months my hair is now 2 1/2 inches, and salt and pepper.. I had brown hair.
It seemed like it took forever and is still slow going ..
Lashes and eyebrows fell out after chemo but are back now... I really hate the salt and pepper look, everyone says oh I look great, but well I guess compared to when I was bald and chemo ravaged I do.. but its tough ...its like I aged 10 years in 11 months!
But its HAIR!! So Ill take it!!
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Peachy, ha ha I know what you mean about reverting to where we started as babies. The steroids I take are making my face puffy, so my face is wrinkle free at 47! Not my preferred look but oh well.
Lovepugs, yep we've got to get humor where we can!
Limonia, I'm wearing eyeliner to give my eyes some definition too. I find I smudge it, tho. I'll have to see if I have any liquid liner, might last better.
Thanks for the info Agatha! I read a little about microblading after your last post. Sounds really like interesting, I can see a gentle version would be better especially if wbc counts are down at all. Three years is so long for it to last! I have a friend who had bc a couple years ago and her biggest fear was getting out of the shower and finding her eyebrows were gone. My eyebrow loss kind of snuck up on me. They made it thru ac but left during taxol except a couple stray hairs. I've started wearing hats in public more except when my kids or their friends are around. I only wear the wig for a couple hours but heat has a lot to do with my discomfort and we're still getting up to 85 during the day. Sweating under the wig is so awful. Hot flashes don't help the whole situation!
Stephanie-.it seems like there is a huge variance in hair growing back but I'm not that far yet as I'm still on Taxol.
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It is funny how different people are, I am horrible at applying eyeliner, my sister wouldn't leave the house without it. My daughter does permanent makeup and did micro blading for my eyebrows before I started chemo. I was too afraid to have her do the eyeliner.
Stephanie- I felt like it would take forever- I just started going without my wig to work in October at 7 months past chemo. It was thick but very, very short. People at work said they love it...I think they are being nice. I just have to make sure I wear makeup and earrings to pull it off. It is growing - slowly. I too am taking Herceptin and have read that others feel it was slower while on it. Truthfully, I think every body is different and maybe it feels so slow to me because it is not as fast as someone elses and I am looking at it several times a day to see if I see any growth.
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My head is tingly. I think it’s a sign hair is growing. Anyone else have this? I only lost maybe 50-60% of hair but you can see my scalp. It’s hard to see if there are any baby hairs coming in to fill in. Im taking weekly pictures to see if I can tell a difference. I think it is growing but so hard to tell! Im still on Taxol. 8 more to go.
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Rdeesides, I don't have a tingly sensation but everyone seems to have very different experiences. Good idea with yourprogress pics.
CoachVicky, I met somebody yesterday who said once her hair came back it was a pain, so she's staying shorter. Curious to see how I'll feel!
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Rdeesides,
When on the generic Arimidex (2 types) my head tingled about 30 minutes after taking the pill. I am on the brand name now and I have no tingling.
Coach Vicky
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Hi all. I haven't checked in for a while. Lots going on, but I'm so thankful to think it's been a whole year since i did chemo. I tried to skim through all the posts but apologize for not making individual comments. It really took me about 7 months to feel like I could even go without a wig. Canadiangirl, I had the cocktail of Cytoxan and Taxoterre. I still remember having to sign the paper that said I acknowledged the possibility that my hair might not grow back. It took forever, and I'm still only trimming the bottom of my hair to get the rest to catch up, but my hair grew back thicker that it was before. Just took so long! Someone finally told me it would be up to 2 years before my hair was back to a PC length. Be patient, take biotin, and just know it absolutely doesn't happen as quickly as we all want and wish for!
Hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to the holidays. I look back at my picture from last Thanksgiving when I was still bald as can be and wearing scarves, and feel like it was both a lifetime ago as well as just yesterday. Happy Fall!
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Thank you DaraB - I alternate between high hopes and despair - your posting has given me extra hope... Did you have sparse places at first which filled in later?
Did your eyebrows make it? Mine haven't come back at all... I am not overly distressed about this because I will tattoo them on but don't know how soon I should be considering it. (I tried to use eyebrow stencils, powder and pencil but what a mess I made of it! Oh dear... )
Also - Coach Vickie - you said your eyelashes fell out a few times.. My eyelashes are coming back, albeit not as thick - and they seem quite "frail"/thin/transparent... when did yours fall out? I.e. how long after they had grown back? Trying to perhaps prepare myself for it...
Thanking everyone for their responses!
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DaraB, thanks for update. Good to hear that you’re doing well a year out. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!
CanadianGirl, I had some girlfriends over last night, 2 of whom are bc survivors. We were joking that we should start a blog where people could post pics of eyebrow makeup fails. We’ve had some doozies
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Flynn - you made me laugh out loud re: eyebrow makeup fails! I must say I laughed when I saw my results in the mirror.
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I didn't even attempt the eyebrow makeup - I know I don't have the skills for that!
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This is today, 16 weeks PFC. I don know why there’s a red blob on the right. My hair is growing pretty fast, but was a lot grayer than I knew, since I’ve been coloring it for about 15 years. I’m still more comfortable wearing the wig, and my “sideburns”were so gray I had my hairdresser dye it Thursday. I wear glasses, and that pushed the wig out far enough to be able to see the gray, which looked pretty tacky. It’s also coming in very wavy, which I assume will be curls when it’s longer. I think I have another month in the wig before I’ll feel comfortable without it.
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lrwells50, your hair looks GREAT! So thick. I don't see any grey in that pic, but I know the feeling. I can't believe how much grey I've been coloring! BTW, I think that red blob on the pic is your finger partially covering the camera on your device.
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T-Sue,
There’s no gray because I had it colored last week
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irwells50,your hair is so thick. You say you think it will be another month before going wig free. It's 16 weeks pfc, when did it start to grow?
I'm day 24 post first dose AC, was delayed next dose. I have a sparse covering of hair that hasn't fallen out. I'm thinking it's actually grey hair that I didn't know I had. I'm blonde and get foils so the grey that I knew about blended well. It will be interesting to see if the rest goes with 2nd cycle
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I had maybe 5% that I never lost, I looked like a baby ostrich. I’d say it started growing about 3 weeks after my last chemo, which makes sense. My hairdresser buzzed the nape of my neck pretty short, which is how I wear it anyway. She also cut the front, some, because that is the hair that felt kind of fuzzy. For the most part it all feels pretty soft. Sure feels weird to have these tight little waves, though.
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my hair right before chemo in january finished April took awhile before it started growing think i stopped wearing my hats in august and this is today. Not thrilled with the color but glad its hair!!
mamaoz
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Hi Everyone, I have gotten so far behind on this board. It's going to take me awhile to get caught up. At this time last year I was not quite halfway through my chemo. Today I am 42 weeks pfc. That seems like such a long time. My hair is still growing very slowly. Patience is definitely not my virtue. I was finally able to get it trimmed a little last week though. Everyone tells me to keep it this short but I'm not convinced. I had a couple of cancer scares in October and ended up with several different scans. Thankfully it was nothing but I did find out I have to have back surgery next week to fix a problem that was found in one of the MRI's I had. The fun just never ends. If it's not one thing, it's something else. But on the bright side, this surgery is getting me out of cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year. Lucky me!! Here's my hair as of last week.
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Your hair is looking great seq!
Mine has been a slowly improving trainwreck. Now 11 mos post last TCHP treatment. It has been progressing better the last couple months. I still have the wig and don't see it going away anytime soon given the sparse spots on top and in back. Hoping early 2018 if things stay on the current track to fill in better where it's been scant to improving.
By that time, maybe I will be brave and post a pic lol.
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Hey ladies, progress pics look great! My peach fuzz is increasing but I found out that I’m going to bedoing radiation so I’m wondering if it’s going to fall out again. I guess whatever happens, happens.
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seq, no idea what your hair was like before but it looks gorgeous, the colour, the wave and thickness. Wow
Flynn, if your radiation is just to breast it shouldn't cause hair loss as it only affects the targeted tissue.
One of my friends who's having chemo for her lymphoma, has her eyebrows lightly feathered while she still has her brows, then when / if they go they have the shape to feather in the rest.
When should you start using biotin. After or while on chemo
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Seq, your regrowth looks great! I too am thinking of keeping mine short for awhile and not deal with growing it out for years.
KB870, I'd LOVE to see a pic of your purple streaks! Would you be willing to share? My hair is a whopping 2 or 3 mm long and coming in really grey. I'm toying with the idea of streaking it for the holidays but not sure yet. Did you do it yourself?
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kb interesting Idea! As I mentioned above not thrilled with the grey! So it washes out? The colorista stuff
Not sure if the arimidex slows the growth down as mine has definately slowed down..and its at an odd length 2 1/2 inches .. but I really want it longer even tho everyone politely says it looks great...
Radiation shouldnt affect it..flynn
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lol thanks for the HEADS up
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Glad you guys don’t think radiation will change my hair situation. My MIL says she lost her hair but she had bc 30 years ago so things were very different.
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Hello ladies,
To: MissLil... I have not allowed anybody to see my head since I lost my hair with chemo... it was only within the 'safety & security' of this forum that I found the courage to post pictures of my bald, and then slowly recovering head... Everyone is so supportive so do not worry about that.... re: you said you noticed some improvement with your hair over the last few months... I am happy to learn that because the front of my hair and on top of crown my hair is very, very sparse... so you give me hope.
However, I am due to start tamoxifen next week and worry this will thin my hair or make it even slower to grow... what are the experiences of the women here?
To: Flynn - yes, you should not have any ill effects to your hair with radiation - except stopping hair growing under your arm pit, if radiation of the underarm nodes are part of your treatment - and that would be a bonus!
To: HapB & Integragirl.... how go things with your regrowth?
Thoughts with you all.
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Hello ladies, I'm currently bald as a bat, and was reading with interest those who started growing back some hair during the Taxol phase. I'll be starting Taxol in 2 weeks and am hopeful for some growth, although I realize it'll be several months before I can ditch the caps. Anyway, my question is whether that hair growth was permanent, or did it continue to fall out afterward?
Thanks for your help here.
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I never lost the hair that started growing during taxol. That growth was completely white, and is still at the tips of my hair. I can't wait until it's long enough to cut that part off...I want to see what color it really is now
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canadian girl ,
Ive been taking a multi with biotin for Hair skin and nails
I posted a before and now pic a few days ago.. my hair came back slowly finished chemo April 10 and it was maybe 6 weeks before just peach fuzz came ! Which is why I started the supplement! Its now @ 2 1/2 inches, and its been 7 months since chemo stopped
So its a slow process and I have some sparse spots
Not sure if the arimidex has slowed it down
Mamaoz
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CanadianGirl, best wishes for your hair return full and healthy. I'm way behind the pace of the ladies here but yes, it does seem to be improving. I hope it will keep going enough to eventually be presentable in public but still a ways to go. As an interim stage hoping it will grow out enough that I can just wear a scarf over it and look ok with a little natural hair showing, vs. the wig routine.
I took Tamoxifen for 5 years some time back after my first BC incident. I did not notice anything about my hair. Prior to the second BC issue, my hair was getting a little thinner - whether post-menopause/moving into 50+ age or something else (diet/stress?), I don't know.
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